Poems for the Very Young

Selected by: Michael Rosen

Illustrated by: Bob Graham

Poems for the Very Young is a collection of poems from various poets like Shel Silverstein, Afua Cooper, Stevie Smith, and many more. The intended audience is young children and that's very apparent because each poem is written to target that audience. Each poem covers subjects of growing up, numbers, letters, foods, and animals, and they serve to aid in the teaching of children about these things. This book has not won any awards.

My evaluation of this book is that it's perfect when introducing students to new authors and the different styles that certain authors use. This book wouldn't be appropriate for students ages 6 or up because I believe it would be too easy for them but I think it would be okay in a pre-k through first grade classroom. 

The New Kid on the Block

Poems by Jack Prelutsky

Illustrations by James Stevenson

The New Kid on the Block is the perfect book to add a little humor to your life. Each poem is unique while also being a cohesive addition to the book and sticking to the theme of silliness.  It has poems addressing a "new kid" who is also a bully, count Dracula visiting a blood bank and not to donate,  what happens when we fight our shadow, and many more!

It has won no awards and is intended for children ages 5 and up.  

My evaluation of this book is that it serves well for introducing poetry to your class. You could discuss some of the patterns used in the book, some themes of the poems, and then you could challenge your students to create a poem of their own using a selected pattern or theme. 

Three Blind Mice 

by John W. Ivmey, Illustrated by Paul Galdone

Three Blind Mice was written to appeal to children ages three and up. It is not the recipient of any awards. The book follows the journey of three blind mice as they leave their home and face lots of hardships along the way like, no shelter, no food, and they even go blind at one point. The story uses rhythm and rhyme throughout to make it a fun read for adults and children!

My evaluation of Three Blind Mice is that it is perfect to use as a fun story, or when teaching students about the order of events. You could do this book as a read-aloud and when you're finished, you could do an activity on the board where students tell the story events in the appropriate order. You could also use this to help explain plot. 

Knock Knock

Knock Knock by Tad Hills

This book was the cutest book I read during this poetry section. It was a collection of knock, knock jokes intended for what I would believe are little ones, pre-k, and kindergarten students. This book is not a recipient of any awards but is still fun to read to your little ones!

My favorite knock-knock joke from the book goes:

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Liz.

Liz who?

Liz-en to me sing!

This one was my favorite because as silly as it is, I could see myself using this. I am always humming or singing around my house, and often times I'm told to hush, haha. But with this cute knock-knock joke maybe someone will liz-en to me!

My evaluation of this book is that it's perfect for little ones. Like ages 2-5. Each "knock-knock" joke is rhyming and not every word that's used is real.  I like this book because it's a good one to use when teaching word knowledge to your kindergarteners. You could show them a word like "book" and have them replace the first letter to create words that rhyme, "hook", "shook", "sook", "wook". It's important to explain that even words that aren't real can be played with when discovering rhyming words. 

Poem Stew

 Poem Stew Poems Selected by William Cole. Illustrations by Karen Weinhaus

Poem Stew is a collection of poems chosen by William Cole. The poems in the book are all by different poets and all of them have something to do with types of food, the kitchen, or the way that food can affect our diet. This book is not a recipient of any awards but is still a fun read when you want to lift your spirits. The appropriate age group would be upper elementary to middle school because some of the words in a few poems are a little advanced. 

One of my favorite poems in the book was "Arbuckle Jones" by Peter Wesley-Smith. It goes:

                                Arbuckle Jones

                                When Flustered 

                                Eats Custard

                                With Mustard   

                                I'm disgustard.

I chose this poem because it was one that made me giggle with the use of the word "disgustard"  

My evaluation of this poetry book is that this is a fun book to use when introducing poetry to children. Not every poem in this book has a perfect rhyme scheme and it highlights the importance of understanding that not every poem has to have rhyming words.

The Annotated Classic Fairytales

Translations by Maria Tatar

No Awards

This book is written for an older audience, highschool and above as it provides annotations to your favorite traditional literature stories, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, and many many more. Each story within this book is given an introduction and full preamble before jumping into the story. As the story goes, parts of it are annotated so that the reader is able to learn about the history of the story.

My evaluation of this book is that when given to the proper audience, this book could be incredibly informational and could be a useful tool to understanding fairytales and their history. 

The True Story if the Three Little Pigs

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

As told to Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith

No Awards.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs is a traditional literature folktale geared towards six, seven, and eight-year-olds that explain the TRUE events of what occurred with the big bad wolf and the three little pigs, at least that's what A. Wolf wants you to think! In this version of the story, A. Wolf explains his side of the story and confirms that yes, even though he ate the pigs, his intentions were not what everyone thought they were. A. Wolf explains that really it's all a big misunderstanding and that his allergies and appetite got the best of him. 

My evaluation of this book is that it's just plain ole fun. This is a great book to read to students when teaching them about a point of view and could be turned into a creative writing activity where students create their own version of the story of the three little pigs. 

The Three Billy Goats Gruff. 

Taken from the translation of G.W Dasent and Illustrated by Marcia Brown

An ALA Notable Book

The Three Billy Goats Gruff is a traditional literature folktale meant for six, seven, and eight-year-olds that follows the journey of three billy goats who all have the same name, Gruff. The billy goats decide to take a journey up the mountain but along the way, they encounter a big ugly troll that lives underneath a bridge they must cross. Each billy goat faces the troll and passes him off to the goat that is following until finally, the Big Billy Goat Gruff must face the troll and defeat him. The three goats all end up making it to the top of the mountain where the live happy, well-fed lives. 

My evaluation of this book is that it is great for a read-aloud and is also great for teaching letters, more specifically the letter G. Students could listen to the story and afterward, return to their desk to complete an activity where they talk about the letter G, its sounds, its appearance, and list some other words that start with G. 

Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

  Retold by Audrey Daly & Illustrated by Chris Russell 

    Goldilocks and the Three Bears belong to the genre of traditional literature (folktale) and was written for a young audience of readers ranging from five to seven. This book has won no awards.

    This book follows the main character, Goldilocks, as she enters the home of the three bears and tries out many of the amenities their home has to offer, like the food, the chairs, and the beds. However, the main problem with her actions is that Goldilocks does them without permission! 

My evaluation of this book is that it is appropriate for a kindergarten audience. I would use this book for the students to read during a reading station or for an individual quiet time reading. I think this book could also be used to explain to students how our actions can affect those around us. 

The Little Red Hen

The Little Red Hen. Illustrated by Berta & Elmer Hader.  

    The Little Red Hen falls into the genre of traditional literature (folktale) and is geared toward young children, ages two to five or six. Though the book itself does not have any awards, the illustrators are former Caldecott recipients. 

The Little Red Hen tells the story of a hen who does all the hard work by herself and refuses to share the rewards of her hard work with those around her, the cat, and the frog because they didn't help her to complete any of the tasks. This story is good for young children because it helps to teach them the value of helping those around you and pulling your weight in terms of chores and household duties. 

My evaluation of this book is that it is a perfect "instruction guide" for teaching responsibilities to children without it feeling like they are being talked at. This book is perfect to use for a fun read-aloud that you can connect with a social studies lesson about the importance of helping those around you. 

Wonder by: R.J Palacio

Wonder. By: R.J. Palacio. 

    The book I will be discussing today is "Wonder" by R.J Palacio. This book is a New York Times Bestseller, and 2014 Bluebonnet winner, which was later turned into a motion picture. Wonder was written for a middle school audience, appealing to fifth-eighth graders who are able to relate to the storyline and characters. Though it is not a true story, the events, settings, and characters in the book are all realistic and the things that happen in the story could happen in real life which makes it realistic fiction.

    I know what you're thinking. "What makes this book so special?" well, a lot actually!

This book follows a year in the life of the main character, Auggie Pullman. However, it's not just any normal year in Auggies life but it's his first year of both school, and of middle school! You see, August Pullman was born with a rare genetic mutation that made him physically different than all of his peers. Because of this mutation, August was homeschooled by his mother until finally, she decided it was time for him to go to a school with other children, Beecher Prep. This book follows Auggie's journey of adjusting to life in a private school and all that it entails; friendships, bullies, school events, and even his middle school graduation. But, one thing that I enjoyed most about this book was that you didn't get to hear about the experiences from only Auggie, but you are also able to see the perspectives of his friends and family members as they told their sides of the story.  

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds, A Quickwrite

 Today's blog post is going to be what is referred to as a quick write, inspired by the book, "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. A quick write is when you take two to three minutes and write about your feelings, thoughts, or reflections from a chosen illustration, quote, or theme within a book. 

    When reading The Dot, I think it is easy for everyone to see a bit of themselves within the character Vashti. At first, she felt discouraged, and like her little dot wasn't good enough to be called art. However, when she came into art class the next day and saw her signed dot hung on the wall in a frame, it made her feel like her dot was the most important and special dot in the world- because it was! This gave her the enthusiasm to take pride in her work, no matter how small it was. Later, her dots began to inspire others. This story speaks several things to me, one, it shows just how inspiring teachers can be, and how special they can help their students to feel, by doing such small things like framing a dot. Two, we should "sign our names" on all the things we do in life. By that I mean that we should take pride in all of our good works, no matter how big or small they are! 

Above is an image of my "dot". Now, this is meant to look like a sunrise or sunset over a landscape. However, my grandmother mentioned to me that it kind of reminds her of Covid-19, which I think is pretty symbolic of how 2020 is going, haha. I had an image in my mind of how I wanted this to look, and if you look closely, you can see all the mistakes. My dot was not perfect, not even close. However, it also happens to be one of the most artistic things I've ever done. I've never painted on canvas, never mixed colors like I did here, and I've never used the brush stroke method that I used- but I had a vision and went with it, and I am so proud of how it turned out!